the house. every one is a white male. every one of them are white males. they couldn't have one woman? >> dana: rnc conference? conference chair. you know who the conference chair is? >> eric: we got to go. >> dana: kathy mcmorris rogers. >> bret: this is fox news alert. i'm bret baier. new developments tonight in the fiscal cliff negotiations. republicans are pushing back hard. against president obama and the democrats over what will be in whatever deal they craft to avoid the implementation of the automatic spending cuths and tax increases. chief white house correspondent ed henry is live with details. good evening, ed. >> tonight we have new details of exactly what treasury secretary geithner laid out to republicans in the big meeting earlier today is. the republican aides tell mike

emanuel there was a lot of detail about the new tax increases. $1.6 trillion in new tax increases from the new rate, capital gain, dividends as well. new spending, starting with $50 billion next year. the white house is countering that is leftover stuff from the president american jobs act. not really spending. nonetheless, the republican aides on the hill saying this is a nonstarter to them. white house aide i just spoke to said that this is not new. this is the president's original budget framework going to september of 2011. they say inside the white house tonight the real problem is the republicans will not give in on new tax increases for the rich. so tonight we're still hopelessly deadlocked. >> optimism faded as tim geithner arrived on the hill ahead of christmas without bearing gifts. the specific list of spending cuts that spiker boehner wanted geithner to bring, leading the republicans to declare talks are going nowhere. >> i'm disappointed in where

we are. and disappointed in what has happened over the last several weeks. i'm here seriously trying to resolve it. i would hope the white house could get serious as well. >> key driver of that anger is the fact that yesterday the president flatly declared while he wants tax changes now, spending cuts can wait. >> it would give us more time than next year to work together on a comprehensive plan to bring down the deficits. >> white house spokesman jay carney broke new ground declaring today the president does want spending cuts, listed in his budget plan to be included in the fiscal cliff talks. >> hold up the budget and say democrats on capitol hill vote for including the spending cuts in this deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. that is not what they are doing now. should they include those? >> yes. i think that, and i know that democrats accept that this has

to be it, a balanced package, that includes revenues and cuts and spending cuts. >> months ago, the budget carney held up was voted down by the entire senate. 99-0. meaning no democratic support. earlier, dick durbin insisted spending cuts from entitlement reform will not be part of the talks while pelosi spell noncommittal whether the cuts will be in the deal. still, the administration is trying to breathe life to the talks, with vice president biden shopping at new costco in washington, picking up a big screen tv and apple pie and insisting he is optimistic of a deal. >> i am. i am. all the folks in the store, man. going to make a difference. >> carney shot down a politico report that a phone call last night between boehner and the president was curt, noting it was 28 minutes long and

productive. signaling the president is flexible on taxes not being specific on the new rates. >> i will say there can be no deal without rates on top earners going up. >> that means that the rates do not necessarily have to go up to 39.6. it could be 37 or 38. meaning they might goose that to try to jump-start the deal with republicans. bloomberg reports that the treasury secretary geithner has been saying look, the sky will fall if we fall off the cliff. he has the power to freeze paycheck withholding levels regardless of how rates change. they can staunch the bleeding from falling off the fiscal cliff if that happens. >> bret: ed, the former presidential candidate mitt romney was at the white house today. >> it's relatively brief. we had lunch with turkey chili and not business. president did have a specific job offer or anything for mitt romney. after the white house put out a statement to say they pledge

to keep in touch if the opportunity arises down the road that sounded like not so much. >> bret: did biden bring by the apple pie? >> they may save that for a celebration if hay get a deal. >> all right, ed. thank you. >> major retailers are reporting weaker than expected holiday sales so far. november receipts are 1.7% over last year. that is well below the 4.5 to 5.5 predicted for holiday season. the economy grew at 2.7% in the third quarter better than the figure announced. the dow was up 37. the s&p 500 gained six. nasdaq finished ahead 20. syrian rebels struck a major blow in the heart of the government today killing a top ruling of the party in a car bombing and someone is cutting off internet and cell phone communication in syria in certain areas. both sides pointing fingers at

the others. all of this as decision-maker in washington try to make a decision on how involved the u.s. should be. we get the latest tonight from correspondent connor powell in jerusalem. hello, connor. >> forces loyal to bashar assad show a city of aleppo while rebels filed mortars at the damascus international airport causing damage to the runway to force several airlines to cancel their flight. >> the assad regime air superior over the syrian rebels appears to be disappea disappearing. in the past 24 hours they shut down two helicopters. rebels used the antiaircraft guns to shoot down the helicopters in the past. but now they have access to more shoulder-to-air missiles. >> we have shut down mitt-23 jet with this missile from the syrian army.

>> but where the weapons truly come from is a mystery. both qatar and turkey reportedly have given fighters advance ited missiles on training and weapons confiscated from the syrian army. this comes as the white house is rethinking its approach to the two-year long war. claiming the lives of more than 4,000 syrians. the most controversial decision centers on arming the free syrian armies. so far the u.s. only provided nonlethal support like radio and communication equipment. some administration officials are privately pushing for deeper intervention in to the conflict. possibly even arming the rebels. >> we are always looking at and reviewing our assistance programs to the syrian opposition. syrian people. today i can say the position is what it has been, not providing assistance to the syrian opposition. >> rebels and theed is a sad government traded accusations today that the other cut off

the internet service in parts of the country. u.s. state department said rebels had been provided with equipment that could operate independently of the syrian network. >> rebels continue to press for international assistance; particularly, from the united states but say they need real military hardware, not cosmetic assistance to defeat president assad in his regime. bret? >> bret: connor powell in the middle east newsroom. thank you. the question of just how safe americans diplomatic outposts are overseas came up for discussion today. on capitol hill. that plays to concerns by some republicans about the expected nomination of united nations ambassador susan rice. for secretary of state. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge connects the dots. >> at high risk sites including the benj consulate the internal state department reported 2009 recorded physical barriers like this one to prevent the overrunning of the diplomatic facility. closed hearing before the senate homeland security committee, witnesses testified the changes were never made in

benghazi. >> disconcerting to see how easily they broke through the gates and walked in. >> the committee questions the striking similarities between the 1998 al-qaeda bombing of the u.s. embassy in east africa that killed 12 americans and injured 4,000 others. in 1998, susan rice was 33 years old and running the state department abrica section. >> ambassador to kenya sent repeated messages to the state department requesting a stronger p facility because of the increased threat. and those requests, as in the case of benghazi, were turned down by the state department. >> some say rice has baggage beyond the benghazi controversy.

in the mid-'90s she turned down offer by the sudanese government to arrest usama bin laden. >> she is completely unable to admit she was wrong and take an position that led to escape of the man that ultimately killed 3,000 american, usama bin laden. >> rice may face trouble from the left not because of the diplomatic record but her financial one. sunlight foundation that espouses government transisn't reports rice and her husband said to be worth more than $20 million own between a quarter and half in transcanada stock. the company tried to build the controversial keystone pipeline. as to the stock ownership with a potential conflict, in white house spokesman insinuated the work was report of the opposition research group. >> none of this has anything to do with the tragedy that occurred in benghazi. this is about politics and

that is a shame. >> the state department needs to sign off on the pipeline if it goes through. >> this is a group on the left, not on the right as the white house suggested. >> bret: thank you. >> you're welcome. >> bret: new talk about closing the guantanamo bay terrorist prison. government accountability office study says 126 detainees could be absorbed safely by prisons in the u.s. that idea you may remember was rejected before by congressional republicans and democrats. president obama ordered the closing of the facility when he took office in 2009. former president george h.w. bush expected to be released from a houston hospital in three days. mr. bush's office says he has been in and out of the facility treated for bronchitis. up next, egypt's president tries to smooth things over. [ male announcer ] introducing...

a new way to save on your prescriptions. it's the aarp medicarerx saver plus plan from unitedhealthcare. with this plan, you can get copays as low as a dollar through a preferred network pharmacy like walgreens -- where you'll find 8,000 convenient locations. best of all, this plan has the lowest part d premium in the united states -- only $15 a month. open enrollment ends december 7th. so call today or visit your local walgreens.

>> bret: egypt's president is trying to diffuse an increasingly tense political situation over last week's perceived power grab. he addressed his people a short time ago. correspondent steve harrigan is live in cairo where it's early friday morning. hello again, steve. >> egypt constitutional assembly trying to push through a constitution in one day. what is not clear at this point is whether the new constitution will calm down the street protests or inflame them further. a few key elements gleaning from the document, slight limit on presidential power, limiting the president for two terms of office of four years each. so, no rigid code of behavior inside the document. the next step for constitution will be a national referendum in the next two weeks that people have to vote on it. that could be way out of the

tough situation last week when morsi said his acts were beyond the judicial review. that ignited street credits there. >> we have to share everything on the table laws. for stable laws and separation of powers. the matters should be independent and will take tim time. >> they stress the faith of each constitution will be decided by the egyptian people. >> it will be up to them whether they need their standard.

have a chance to make it clear. >> it's a question whether the move will be enough for the opposition. they have come out in force for seven nights. your will see likely protests in short-term on friday by those wanting to drive the president out of office. the size of the protest will give the first you indication of where they stand. >> thanks. united nations upgraded status on the world assembly to take a step toward recognition and ignoring u.s. opposition. eric shawn has that story tonight.

>> in washington, bipartisan group of senators are threatening to cut funding if they use the status to punish israel. >> two states, one jewish and one arab. >> the jewish territory created israel. but for three palestinians palestinians rejected that. today they took a step shy of statehood. they are granted wider participation in the u.n. system and does not create a country. >> we will not give up or

tire. the determination will not wane. we'll continue to achieve peace. above all, i felt the people would not relink tish the national rights. >> the vote went against the wishes of the obama administration. the israel and u.s. voted no saying two-state achievement can only be achieveed through the direct negotiations. >> today unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstams to pass to peace. that's why the united states voted against it. >> last year, mahmoud abbas sought statehood through the security council. israeli officials brand it as a public relations act without any real meaning. >> why continue to make painful sacrifices for peace

in exchange for pieces of paper that the other side will not honor. >> it will make it less likely. >> jerusalem, as the prime minister benjamin netanyahu called abbas' speech hostile and poisonous and full of false propaganda. it seems tonight the 1947 vision of two sides living peacefully side-by-side is as elusive as 65 years ago. >> bret: eric shown outside the united nations. thank you. still ahead, what gets cut to avoid going over the so-called fiscal cliff? first, it may be legal but it doesn't mean you can get away with it. legalized marijuana and how it can affect you job.

[ "the odd couple" theme playing ] humans. even when we cross our "t"s and dot our "i"s, we still run into problems -- mainly other humans.

at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car replacement, where if you total your new car, we give you the money for a new one. call... to talk to an insurance expert about everything else that comes standard with our base auto policy. [ tires squeal ] and if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, your repairs are guaranteed for life. call... to switch, and you could save hundreds. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] while you're getting ready for the holidays, we're getting ready for you. tis the season. for food, for family, and now, something extra -- for you.

>> bret: sas is a says there is ice on the closest planet to the sun. messenger spacecraft found evidence of frozen water as much as 65 feet deep at mercury's north pole. messenger spacecraft is the first to orbit the closest planet to our sun, mercury and it's been studying that planet for a year-and-a-half. now a story about another kind of high. it's legal under state law to smoke marijuana recreationmly in certain places out west but it does not mean you can get away with it without consequences. dan springer with a look in the legal and professional weeds. >> when voters in washington state and colorado legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults, pot advocates party. the buzz could be short-lived. we may be -- weed may be legal to smoke at home but show up to work with it in your system and you can still be fired.

attorney jim shore won a state supreme court case for a business that canned worker over medical marijuana. the ruling still applies and so should federal law. >> system of dual sovereignty, regardless of what washington or any state does to legalize marijuana the federal government treats marijuana illegal for all purposes. >> union workers may have a different set of rules to set up another fight between labor. >> we'd vigorous defen our members rights to engage in legal conduct out of work. the burden is on the employer to show impact on the job. >> medical experts say the marijuana high lasts two to three hours but traces remain in the body for up to a week. how long is person is impaired is up for debate. but it's longer than alcohol. >> it is dangerous and has an impact on safety. do you want to board an

airplane within 24 hours of your pilot smoking marijuana? i don't think so. >> many construction companies have zero tolerance drug policies. owners say the new law will cost their workers and make it harder to hire new ones. larry gregory owned a drilling company. >> my men have to be clear-headed. not only that, they are going to do dangerous work. >> biggest worry for business owner is the higher legal bills. possible results concerned to light up within their right but it could have more of them showing up in the unemployment line. bret? >> bret: dan, thanks. she became famous for having her virtue besmirched. now sandra fluke is selling herself. we'll explain. plus a tale of two protests and how a media outlet covered them both. wait until the last minute. can i still ship a gift in time r christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express

by december 22nd for christmas delivery. hi victor! mom? i know you got to go in a minute but this is a real quick me, that's perfect for two! campbell's chunky beef with country vegetables, poured over rice! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

share "not even close." share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. shareable data across 10 devices with uimited talk and text. by htc for $49.99.

>> bret: now, fresh pickings from the political grapevine. on the day that former "today show" producer zucker tapped to head cnn some are questioning the decision-making. the news busters report the march for life that drew tens of thousands of peaceful pro-life manualers to washington, d.c. earlier in year, was given by two brief mentioning on the channel. but by comparison the protesters who stripped naked in house speaker john boehner's office, not shown here, were interviewed for move minutes wednesday. solodad o'brien's first

question was how did you get naked to the speaker's office? it can't be easy to get access and then take off your clothes. she closed the interview thanking them for keeping their clothes on in the studio. feminist activist sandra fluke is auctioning off an hour of her time for a political strategy session. the college fix from the auction page social justice activist fluke will help you harness activism or advocacy. if the offer sounds temping it's worth noting it won't be a face-to-face meeting. 5 i sales are final. ample man arguably one of former presidential nominee mitt romney ardent supporters

flip-flopped. eric heartsberg, the professional wrestler who inked the romney-ryan low ge on his face was going to keep it. he told politico he would never have it removed. now he is planning to laser it off. process could take a year. he was disheartened by the post election comments; particularly, that the president won because of gifts from various constituencies. it stands not only for a losing campaign for for a sore loser. he is pretty shameful as far as i'm concerned. we told you earlier while the white house is saying spending cuts will likely be included a final fiscal cliff deal, the devil is in the detail. what is to be cut. there are plenty of places to look. >> while democrats and republicans were speaking over each other at dueling press conferences --

>> the spending is out of control. >> now is the time for the republicans to move past the happy talk about the revenues. put specifics on the table. >> nonpartisan citizen against the government waste laid out specifics to identify 392 billion in spending cuts next year. $1.8 trillion in cuts in five years. >> it's close to the $4 trillion figure that is thrown around as the objective for the discussions on reducing deficit. >> agricultural spending alone they found $85 billion in savings. it suggests eliminating the rural utility service, legacy of the roosevelt era. rural america is now electrified. killing that service could save 44 billion of the five years. eliminate ethanol subsidiarie subsidiaries. they cause farmers to grow corn for food not fuel. i would save $30 billion in five years. eliminate sugar subsidiaries to double price of sugar in

the u.s. to save $6 billion. darely support. they are propping up the prices to add it would save $5.7 billion. why hasn't congress eliminated the kind of programs? >> they don't want to give up the power or the jurisdiction or the money. you it is a lot easier for members of congress to run back home an say i am fixing this problem by spending money. >> some members buck that trend. gao report commissioned by the republican senator jeff sessions and burn bush burn mire rors that of -- burn bush burn mirrors of that. and they are optimistic despite the public posturing to suggest otherwise. >> the fact you are not hearing details. is good. we'll sol tv one way or another. solve it eventually. the market will solve it for us. >> if a deal is struck without them it could be satis

satissic to the leadership, whose membership would be unlikely to vote for a deal. >> thank you. >> the judge said they need new independent regulation system for the press. it comes at the end of the review brought on by the phone hacking scandal there. good deal of that controversy around the defunked news of the world tabloid owned by the parent company of this networ network. new details tonight about what you tim geithner said on capitol hill as the administration suggesting spending cuts might be on the table. sooner rather than later. which ones in latest on fiscal cliff. fox all-stars next. dry mouth may start off as an irritant. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. water will work for a few seconds but if you're not drinking it, it's going to get dry again. i recommend biotene. all the biotene products like the oral rinse...the sprays have enzymes in them. the whole formulation just works very well.

it leaves the mouth feeling fresh. if i'm happy with the results and my patients are happy with the results, i don't need to look any farther. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list

at the winter event going onow -- but hurry, the offer ends soon.

the country doesn't need a victory lap. it needs leadership. time for the president and congressional democrats to tell the american people what

spending cuts they are willing to make. i'm disappointed in where we are and disappointed in what has happened after the last couple of weeks. >> if they insist on spending cuts then the onus is on them to come forward with some ideas. >> now is the time for the republicans to move past the happy talk about the re-knews ill-defined of course to put specifics on the table. >> bret: the dance continues on capitol hill. tim geithner was up there today and had specifics according to the republicans. this is what he brought to the table. proposal detailed to avert the year-end fiscal crisis with $1.6 trillion in tax increases in ten years an new round of stimulus spending. this is how it broke down.

$960 billion there. additional tax increases equal to $600 billion. 2009 level estate tax. multiyear stimulus package starting with at least $50 billion next year alone. permanent increase in the debt ceiling, the debt limit enough to avoid it. in exchange, $400 billion in savings from the medicare and other entitlements to be worked out next year with no guarantees. that didn't go over well. syndicated columnnist charles krauthammer. what is going on here? >> you know, up until today i didn't think -- i did think that the president had shown leg on entitlement reform. he did no 2011. when the house speaker failed to reach a grand bargain. you heard signals from dick durbin said on the sunday shows that medicare had to be

on the table. he circled back and say it couldn't be part of the down payment. a lot of confidence that the president is willing to go over the cliff before he would do anything to entitlement. this is the -- the ball is in the democrats' court, not in the republicans that i spoke to today. did say that the administration proposal just as boehner said is not serious. it's insulting. laughable. heavy on spending. there is no entitlement reform in there. they want the decouple of the tax rate for precondition for any discussion. they considered the sequester cut that everybody said is just fine. happy for those to be the only cuts on the table. >> all of this talk about the behind the scenes is going better than the public discussion. >> that's what i thought was happening. but it's not.

the way they characterize talks is they're going backwards not forward. if president obama is talking about taxing the wealthy. it doesn't get you there. the math doesn't add up. i doesn't get you out of the hole. but if they get that on december 22 and all he get he is has a seriouscliff on his hands. >> i want to play this. question to nancy pelosi. the minority leader in the house about spending cuts and what she is willing to do. >> the thing on the spending cuts -- the definite -- [ inaudible ] >> $1.5 trillion in cuts is a lot of money. we in washington, d.c. and we get used to big numbers but $1.5 trillion in cuts you go beyond that, you are talking

hurting the growth of the infrastructure and education of our people and the pillar, the pillars of our economic strength. >> bret: that is a message, steve, we cut enough. yesterday, i should point out that senator reid meant to say $1 trillion. not one $1 billion on the sound bite we played to be fair to him. but nancy pelosi is clearly saying we're done. >> you see this in the comments that the democratic members of the house made to the public. big argue in politico, not refrenching on entitlement. that is not going to work. if that he are not willing to give on more spending the republicans are increasingly thinking fine. go over the cliff then. you take us over the cliff. >> bret: what leverage do republicans have? >> republicans don't have a lot of leverage. this is the disagreement with charles on his take on what leverage republicans have. i don't think they have much leverage. if the question is sign up for tax increases, so that you can

have a terrible deal that doesn't do anything to reign in entitlement and doesn't make serious spending cuths you are seeing more and more republicans look around and say that is a bad deal. might be better than the other possibility. >> not just a bad deal. this is insulting deal. robert e. lee was offered easier terms and he lost the civil war. the democrats won by 3% of the vote. they did not hold the house. republicans who won the house. this is not exactly unconditional surrender but that is what the administration is asking of the republicans. this idea that they are not only no cuts in this, there is an increase in spending with a new stimulus. this is unheard of. what do they expect? they expect the republicans will cave on everything. i think the republicans ought to walk away.

the president is the president. he is the leader. they are demanding that the republicans explain all the cuts that they want to make. we had that movie a year-and-a-half ago where paul ryan presented a budget. serious real budget. with real cuts. obama was supposed to gave speech where he would respond with a counter offer. what did he do? he gave a speech with ryan on the front row. he called the ryan proposal un-american, insulted him. offered nothing and ran on mediscare in the next 18 mont months. they expect the republicans will do this again? republicans will walk on this. i think they have leverage. yes, for congressional democrats it will help them in the future if the republicans absorb the blame because we will have a recession. obama is not running again unlike the congressional democrats. he is going to have a recession. 90% unemployment, 2 million more unemployed. second term that will be a

ruin. that is not a good proposition if you are barack obama. >> bret: before you respond to that, a.b., there is one thing that speaker boehner talked about today, leverage wise. that is tying the debt ceiling limit to this entire deal. and the white house reacting. >> there is a lot of things i wanted in my life, but almost all of them had a price tag attached to them. if we talk about the debt limit, there will be a price tag associated with it. >> asking for political price be paid, in order for congress to do its job to ensure that the united states of america pays its bills an does not default for the first time in its history is irresponsible. >> that is the leverage. that is why if the republicans in the final hour of the fiscal cliff negotiations say fine, you can have this much re-knew from the cap and deduction and closing

loopholes we will budge on the rate. 37.5%. that is not must have none. if it is not tied to debt ceiling increase that would only pass with the aggressive medicare reform they have to have a separate debt ceiling fight in member. where do they find the math for that? republicans won't vote for anything without commensurate spending cut. >> bret: i know i will do this 100 more times. over the cliff or not? >> as of today, yes. everybody in one all the way down. >> yes or no? >> i stay optimistic. for another few days. no over the cliff. >> probably not. by some easily deal at the end. >> bret: that was iffy. that will change something tells me. next up, how involved should the u.s. get in syria?

our main focus right now has been to work with other countries to try to provide whatever assistance we can to the opposition. so that ultimately it can become not only an effective force but ultimately can come together to provide the kind of political transformation that we think is ultimately going to be needed once assad comes down. >> i can cat goricly state that today our position is what it has been, which is we are not providing legal assistance on the syrian opposition. >> bret: this has the front page of the "new york times" today had a story saying this -- u.s. weighs bolder evident to intervene in syria's conflict. they are publicly saying that that is not the case. however, privately officials may in fact be doing just that. this is president bashar

assad's forces shelled the city of aleppo. in the past 24 hours, two syrian aircraft shut down by rebels a helicopter and a jet. back with the panel. charles? >> the reason the administration is now going to change the policy, has to because the ground is shifting in the war. up until now the rebels taken lan but couldn't hold it the ground now is turkey and aleppo. every time they go to damascus and seized for example military bases, they are only able to hold it for a day or two because of air power. what just happened is that there is a huge strategic shift. the rebels now have shoulder-held missiles that can bring down a helicopter. and a plane. when that happened in the afghan war against the soviets, the soviets lost. that was a great strategic

change. once the russians lost control of the air, the war was essentially over. that is happening right now. because of that, i think the feeling is what has bob a back and forth, tailmate, looks as if the advantage for rebels there is no reason it should not. result is fault of regime. the administration understands this. time is running. they will have any influence on the government and inhelicopter syria, which is now rebels are ally infiltrated. time to intervene and get friends is now. >> bret: a.b., speculation that the administration may be covertly helping the rebels in some way. allies may provide weapons directly. publicly, they say they provide the communications equipment and radio and nonlethal support.

how does this evol n the region there for the administration? >> start with the fact that the president is not have a national security team in place. they can't make serious commitment until the team is in place. people are leaving, we don't know who is coming. with learned of their shift but we don't know they can make that shift officially. way tonight no of the only because of what charles points out that time is running out for them to influence the opposition. infiltrate the opposition. they are worried as the opposition is seen more sophisticated weaponry, they don't know where it's coming or going to. they might have a role behind the scenes. how it is getting to them. but they are not sure who is setting up with. but concerned about the hardline elements in the opposition. anti-israeli strains. they have to figure out who the people are. and that, like i said, will be

challenged given that the team is not pulled together. >> well, the time to intervene if we were going to intervene was year ago. more than a year ago. the fact -- if we do it now, better late than never. but we lost so much ability to influence the outcome there because the president wanted to control the outcome or dictate outcome or didn't want anything serious to do with it at all. better in my view if you provide assistance to opposition tonight a open way and say we're providing assistance to the opposition, in return, we expect certain things of the government that replaces bashar assad. the concern i have is speaks to what charles, the point charles made. if we can recognize they're becoming boulder because the ground is shifting in the war itself, if that looks opportunistic to us it will look opportunenistic to people we're supposed to be helping. you have had 30,000 plus sireiance die on the ground. the relatives and families won't look kindly on a united

states that stood by to watch it happen. >> steve is right. we are very, very late. the reason is that we had an election. obama wanted to wash his hands now. je to do something or we will end up with a nasty regime in syria. >> bret: that is it for the panel but stay tuned for more analysis on the nuclear option.

>> bret: some some of that has to be harry reid stopping by to block dinners of the mashed potatoes. mitch mcconnell is warning it could get worse. >> in the name of efficiency they would prevent the very possibility of compromise and threaten to make the disputes of the past few years look like mere pillow fights. >> he is